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ABSTRACT
Back Ground: Nosocomial infections are a major problem in both developed and developing countries. Among vari-
ous reasons for the increase in the rate of nosocomial infections, the role of mobile phones used by Health Care Pro-
fessionals (HCPs), is analyzed in this study. Aims and Objectives: To screen the surfaces of mobile phones of HCPs for
pathogenic and nonpathogenic bacteria and to compare it with the control group. To study the significance of mobile
phones of HCPs acting as vehicles for transmitting nosocomial infections. Materials and Methods: 200 HCPs
(Doctors, nurses, medical students, and technicians) 50 other than HCPs mobile phone surfaces are swabbed with
sterile swabs soaked in sterile saline and inoculated onto Blood agar and Mac Conkey agar and incubated for 48
hours. The organisms are identified by the colony morphology and characteristic biochemical reactions. Control
group (50) comprised of general public and arts and science students. A questionnaire related to their habit of using
the cell phones was also filled up by both the test group and the control group. Results: The pathogenic bacteria iso-
lated from study group are Staphylococcus aureus, which is predominant, followed by E. coli, Klebsiella, Pseudomo-
nas aeruginosa and Proteus mirabilis. The non- pathogenic bacteria isolated are Micrococci, Coagulase Negative
Staphylococci, Diphtheroids, Neisseria catarrahlis, Aerobic spore bearers, and Candida albicans. The prevalence of
Pathogenic bacteria and Non Pathogenic bacteria are higher in HCPs samples when compared with the control
group.
KEY WORDS: Nosocomial infections, Mobile phones, Health care professionals.
Control HCPS group HCPs group individual data (n=50 in each group)
Organism group (50) ( n=200) Doctors Nurses Students Technicians
% (N=50) % (n) % (no) % (no) % (n) % (n)
Staphylococcus
4 (2) 24 (48) 24 (12) 40 (20) 12 (6) 20 (10)
aureus
Escherichia coli 6 (3) 6.5 (13) 12 (6) 4 (2) 4 (2) 6 (3)
Klebsiellapneu-
0 5 (10) 10 (5) 2 (1) 4 (2) 4 (2)
moniae
Pseudomonas
0 4 (8) 4 (2) 2 (1) 2 (1) 8 (4)
aeruginosa
Proteus mirabilis 0 2.5 (5) 4 (2) 0 4 (2) 2 (1)
Total 10 (5) 42 (84) 54 (27) 48 (24) 26 (13) 40 (20)
How to Cite this article: Karthik Manikandan, Jeya M, Sasikala S. Mobile Phones Of Health Care Professionals: A Potential
Threat To Infection Control In A Tertiary Care Hospital . Int. j. clin. biomed. res. 2017;3(3): 22-25.